Feeling a bit overwhelmed

[Penny's mom]

Hi, my 14 year old girl, Penny indoor cat has recently been diagnosed as diabetic. She has been overweight and is currently 14 lbs. We brought her to the vet for increased water intake and urination and here we are. Today her glucose was about 325, down from 426 Initially. We did the curve last week and they said her numbers were good/steady and kept us at 1 unit of insulin. Saw a different vet at the same office today who suggested going to 2 units. What should her glucose be? I can't help but think how many visits is this going to be before we don't have to go for glucose checks. Trying to take it one day at a time.

We changed her from fancy feast wet food to Royal canin glycobalance at the vet's suggestion. I found it cheaper on chewy.com. Feeding her at 12 hour intervals and giving her the injection while she is eating has worked out well. I am willing to give this a go and my husband has been on board as well. We have several overnight boat trips planned this summer and all I can think about is cha-Ching. We'll have to board Penny for her to get the proper care. My vet's office is $66/night if it is a Sunday or Holiday. Found a cheaper place at $45/night.

Can you purchase insulin cheaper elsewhere? Thanks for your support!

 

[Sharon14]

Hi Penny's mom, Welcome to you and beautiful Penny! What insulin is Penny on? If you are willing to learn to home test her glucose there will be no need to take her to the vet for expensive curves. It's easy to do. All you need is a human glucometer, lancets and plenty test strips. Many of us use the Relion confirm meter from Walmart because the strips are cheap! For food, you want a low carb food - canned is best. The Fancy Feast Classics are good as are Sheba and several other brands. Just make sure there is no gravy, only Pate types. As far as while you are away, maybe look into hiring a vet tech from the clinic to come to your house to take care of Penny.

 

[BJM]

Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:

- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.

- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This keeps your cat safe and saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference. We record them on a grid; instructions are here.

- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and
Young Again 0 found online.

- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.